A Break from Ingenuity
by SavSilvy
Summary: Timing is everything. Fuji gets his timing wrong, makes one misstep then finds himself facing a career ending injury. Maybe, that's when everyone will realize that he's human too.
1. Prologue

**During my break, one of my goals was to marathon PoT, one of my favorite shows as a child. I'm not one for action though and I don't really play tennis. What really got me about the show was the cast of characters, for some reason, I just grew to love them and before I knew it, I was watching everything from the hilarious fillers to the 3 episode long matches.**

**One character I grew up loving was the prodigy Fuji Shusuke. I guess I was just really awed by the fact that he was a genius in tennis, he never lost a match (other than Shiraishi's) and that **_**still**_** wasn't his true potential.**

**Watching it again though as my older self, I realized a lot of things have changed. Mainly was the fact that though I still loved Fuji, I started to get irked by his never losing, the fact that he can always pull crap out of his pocket and the fact that I rarely see him REALLY struggle and that's where this fic comes in.**

**With this fic, I just hope to add more depth to Fuji, by digging deeper into the recesses of the prodigy and find that part of him that makes him more vulnerable and more human, like every other character in this show. Well I'd like to say more but I think you should read the rest for yourself. I hope you enjoy this fic and if you have time, please leave a line in the review box? **

**A/N: This is basically an AU of the match between Kirihara and Fuji. This could be a one shot or I could stretch it out to longer chapters if I have time. I was thinking of at the most, ten chapters with 5000 words each? Who knows.**

**Anyway, enjoy!**

"The traffic's pretty bad today, there must have been an accident…"

The taxi driver was once again trying to make conversation but being occupied as is, Kippei Tachibana could only reply with a noncommittal grunt. His thoughts were far away from any conversation and any of the questions the driver attempted to throw at him. At that moment the captain of Fudomine was replaying his phone call to his sister and the revelation about Kirihara's next target-Fuji's knee.

_If Kirihara already started his attack on Fuji's knee, that means… _Tachibana couldn't find any single word to end the sentence because as he thought out that single sentence, many scenarios suddenly swam through his brain. He started to clearly remember his own game with Kirihara, the sick feeling in his stomach when the junior's eyes suddenly turned red then the sharp pain that would rattle through his whole leg every time the ball landed on his ankle then the dull pain that followed. Before he knew it, he was imagining Fuji experiencing the same thing or at least trying to. Fuji never struck him as the type to get injured or to show his vulnerable side thus, even picturing Kirihara smashing a tennis ball at Fuji's knee repeatedly felt weird. All he knew then was whatever was happening in the court, he really had to see it to believe it.

Tachibana looked out the window and sighed hopelessly as he saw the unmoving traffic that surrounded him. It would be a miracle if he made it in time for Fuji's match.

**oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo**

_Is this the end?_

"Oh my bad! I thought you'd be able to dodge that with _your_ reflexes."

That was the only line Fuji was able to comprehend before he fell into this hell hole where all he could recognize was the pain. His stomach was hurting, his knee was hurting, his head was hurting. At that point he felt like he was going to die.

He heard the familiar voices of Seigaku, the muffled screams of mentioning a medic, mentioning a hospital. Some of the muffled voices though were saying something else.

"Stand up Fuji-senpai!"

_Is this how it ends? The pain becomes too heavy and I decide to quit? Since when did I become this weak? This selfish? If I quit now, it's over. We lose all chances of getting a championship win. All because I couldn't fight through this. Is getting a good rest really worth losing? Letting my team down? Losing a chance at a championship win? _

He pictured quitting then and there. They were still eligible for the nationals so the loss isn't supposed to bear too much weight but as he imagined going to nationals like that, he felt a phantom sensation twisting at his gut. _Regret. _

_No, Shusuke, we're not yet in the nationals. You don't need to feel regret yet. Open your eyes! Stand up! We're not yet done. Not yet… Not yet… _

_Not yet! _Fuji forced his eyes open and with it his other senses. The referee was the first one he saw.

"Let me finish this match" Fuji said so forcibly, he sounded more like he was giving an order than a request.

"This match is very dangerous. We recommend-"

"I can still stand. This match is not yet over." Fuji pressed as he stood up, willing himself to get over the dizziness that washed over him when he did.

The referee nodded hesitantly. He looked over at Seigaku's coach as if he expected her to intervene. All she did though was nod thus, giving them permission to continue the match.

"We now resume the match with a game count of 3-2, Kirihara leading."

Fuji could hear the encouraging cheers of his clubmates . It was uplifting but he knew he had to tune it out. If he wanted to win the game, he would have to focus.

_Every shot is returnable_. He told himself again and again as if memorizing it is enough to be able to return it. It probably was since that philosophy has been working for him since he decided to start playing tennis and that year alone, he was able to return many of his opponent's special moves.

He took a deep breath. He knew he had to simplify the match so he decided to eliminate all the other variables- the weight of the match, the pain in his knee and stomach, the cheers from the stands, his bloodthirsty opponent and the impending fatigue that was starting to wash through him. _I am rallying with my brother Yuuta. As soon as the ball bounces, I can return it. The ball will bounce in front of me, I put my racket in front of the ball, and move my arm. The ball flies to the other side and I do it again. If I'm lucky they don't hit it and I score a point. _ Fuji told himself. _This is tennis and that's all we need to know to play tennis._

That was probably all the prodigy because before he knew it he was leading 5-4 and Kirihara and the rest of the Rikkaidai team were rendered speechless. All he had to do was win one more game. How hard could it be? He probably won a million others already.

"It's your serve."

The referees voice rattled through Fuji's internal monologue then that's when he realized that he was exhausted.

_Just one more game_.

He did a normal serve, his body not allowing him to do any more than that. He watched as Kirihara returned it.

The return was strong but it wasn't anything Fuji was supposed to have trouble with and he was sure that if he were in top shape, he could have returned it without even batting an eye lash.

With the fatigue and the knee pain though, it ended up becoming a different story. The fatigue forced Fuji out of his nirvana-like state of focus whilst the knee pain demanded to be felt. A mix of the both of them is what caused Fuji to unconsciously rely on his human instincts.

When a person is traumatized, they unconsciously start to associate trivial things with their pain and when they are once again exposed to that stimuli, their defense mechanism goes on hyperdrive and that was what happened to Fuji at that moment. The yellow of the tennis ball mixed with the unnatural spin of the knuckle serve was enough to trigger the defense mechanism in his knee. As Fuji willed himself to go forward, his right knee decided to lock itself due to a mixture of self defense mechanisms and fatigue, rendering itself immovable.

Everything was moving too fast though. Fuji did not notice that he left his right foot behind until five seconds later but by then, it was too late.

In that five second gap, Fuji had gone through the tennis basics of returning where one would have to twist their body to return a strong shot with their backhand. It was when Fuji twist his body did he hear the resounding pop coming from his knee then did he feel an indescribable pain washing through his knee.

A few more seconds after the pop, he was sprawled on the ground unmoving.

**Feedback is greatly appreciated! I'd be happy to know that I have readers **


	2. The Start

**Author's note: Thank you so much for the reviews you gave! Even though I didn't reply, just remember that I do appreciate every review I get. I will not be using any Japanese in my fanfic except for proper nouns, like tennis moves and words when translated to English will sound really awkward like 'aniki' or 'sensei.'**

**Fuji Shusuke will be called Fuji because it is easier to picture him as such and his first name is rarely even used in the anime or the manga when compared to how many times Ryoma Echizen and Kikumaru are called by their first names. So for narration purposes, I will call Yuuta, Yumiko (Fuji's older sister) Ryoma and Eiji by their first names so the narration may flow better.**

**Some things to remember:**

**Seigaku according to the wiki, is in a Southern ward of Tokyo so it can either be in Setagaya, Shinagawa or Meguro. I chose to make it in Shinagawa since I'm more familiar with that area than the other wards. Some sources hint to the fact that Rikkaidai is in Kawasaki city of the Kanagawa Prefecture so I decided to set it there in my story. I remember googling the tournament setting to find out that that certain tennis garden does exist and can be found in Yokohama so the tournament is set in Yokohama city of the Kanagawa prefecture. I will assume that Kanai General Hospital is in Kawasaki city. **

**For those who are curious, to save you some time:**

**Kanagawa prefecture is to the South of Tokyo. Kawasaki city is near the border of Tokyo and Kanagawa so it is really near the Shinagawa ward actually. It's only around 15 minutes by car. Yokohama city is bit farther since one has to pass Kawasaki to reach Yokohama. By train it's around, nine minutes and by car, barring unforeseen traffic, around 10 minutes. So yes, Rikkaidai and Seigaku are actually pretty near each other.**

_Play to your heart's content._

There were no words to describe how much Ryuzaki regretted saying that to Fuji. It was already the third time the referee attempted to call a medic, the third time Fuji stood up after another painful fall, saying he was okay and the third time the referee looked to Seigaku's coach, as if begging her to forfeit before blood was spilled.

"Ryuzaki-sensei…" She heard a voice behind her, recognizing it as their temporary captain, Oishi's. She knew at once what he and the other regulars wanted her to do.

All she could do was shake her head and watch in horror as Fuji leaned on his racket and stood up. The referee was bombarding Fuji with questions she couldn't hear but she could see Fuji shake his head indignantly as a reply to every question the referee was throwing at him.

Her eyes then focused on Fuji's right knee. She had heard the telltale pop less than a minute ago and had hoped it was her imagination. The knee was trembling and looked like it was going to buckle any minute.

"Fuji!" She screamed and stood up instinctively.

All Fuji did was make eye contact with her and shake his head as if to say that he _was_ going to play to his heart's content, even if it meant finishing that game through the pain.

Fuji is one her most obedient players. He does the drills he is assigned religiously, runs the laps he is ordered to run and would never miss a practice unless he was actually ordered to by a higher up. Yet at the same time, he was the most stubborn next to Ryoma. The genius would play games through the rain or even through an injury if it interested him enough. He wasn't just interested in this game though, he was practically obliged to win. If he forfeited the game then and there, they lose their regionals championship and knowing Fuji , he would die before giving up that crucial game just like that.

_And besides, Kirihara must already be losing his composure. _Ryuzaki noted as she recalled how he just let Fuji's return pass through him before the latter collapsed in pain just a minute ago.

"We will know resume the game with 15-0. Fuji leading."

_Three more disappearing serves…_ Fuji told himself as he noted the wild and unfocused eyes of Kirihara. He just had to hold on that long since he was sure his opponent, with his lack of focus, would not be able to return it. _The real question is, will I be able to make the serve… _ He looked down at his knee. Something was wrong with it, he was sure. It wasn't the pain anymore, after a while that part just faded into a dull throbbing. What was bothering him was the way his knee buckled under him. It would sway left and right, then back and forth. He shook his head. _You're just tired Shusuke. Just make the three serves and it's over. Play through the pain._

_One disappearing serve_

30-0

He felt his knee twist then buckle under him. He had gone through this serve so many times yet, it was the first time he felt his knee twist that far. _Focus on the game. You have all the time to analyze your form after._

_Another disappearing serve._

40-0

"Match point!"

"That kid really is a genius! To think that he could win that match even with that injury!

"Look at the Rikkaidai kid… He looks so rattled. He probably would've been able to win if he was more focused"

_Don't listen to the crowd! You haven't won yet, you gotta focus! _ Fuji scolded himself as he made that last serve. He went through the steps of the serve. _One last time. _ He told himself. That was the last serve he was sure he could make. The genius was already at his limit.

The next few moments were all a case of bad timing for Fuji Shusuke. His knee chose to give away at the exact moment Fuji hit the spinning ball over the net. Because of that, he wasn't able to add the extra spin needed to make the ball disappear as soon as Kirihara tries to hit it.

_Shit. _Fuji watched in horror as ball flew over the net and right in front of his opponent. _An easy shot even an amateur could return. _

He was fatigued and his right knee was numb. He had to make a shot that Kirihara wouldn't be able to return or he'd lose the game. The ball flew over the net and Fuji couldn't help but notice the familiar back spin of the ball.His eyes widened as he thought of the perfect gamble.

_This is it. _

The shot was aimed at the other side of the baseline, meaning that Fuji would have to dive if he even wanted a chance at hitting it. He had his plan though. _And really? What are a few bruises, and friction burns compared to losing a championship game?_

With that mindset, Fuji dove for the ball, focused on putting the right spin on it, even with his awkward position. He looked up and watched as the ball sailed over the net.

_Please god, please… _

Kirihara readied his racket in front of the ball, waiting for it to bounce. To his and the audience's surprise though, it never did. Instead it spun on the ground for a while then made its way to the baseline.

_Tsubame Gaeshi._

"Game set and match! Seigaku's Fuji, 6-4!"

To Fuji's surprise though, no one was cheering, a far cry from his previous matches. Instead, he was hearing whispers, footsteps and panicked voices.

"Fuji-senpai!"

"Fuji!"

"Fuji! Don't move!"

_Ryuzaki-sensei's voice…_

"Call the Medic!"

_The referee's voice_

The tension from the game a while ago was gone and along with it went Fuji's adrenaline. That was when the young tennis player started to feel the pain then did he understand what happened. When he made that final return, he ended up falling to his right side. His chest and shoulder took the brunt of the fall but Fuji was sure he felt his right knee jump under him.

_**That**__ must have made it worse. _Fuji thought as he turned his head to see the damage. He couldn't see much though. Ryuzaki and the referee were kneeling beside him, probably assessing the injury.

He decided to give up. The pain of the injury was slowly creeping up on him. It had started with a dull thud but was slowly getting more and more painful as they seconds ticked by. At that exact moment, Fuji was feeling too many different kinds of pain in his right knee alone. His eyes were getting blurry and his head was swimming. He looked to his other side to see the other members of the audience, looking at him and whispering. Others were covering their mouth in shock.

_Was it that bad?_

He looked back to see Oishi in front of him.

_When did you get here… _He thought to himself.

"Fuji… Look at me. You know what's happening right? You have an open wound in your knee and it looks like it's dislocated. We called an ambulance."

"Please let us through! That's our brother!"

_Nee-chan?_

Then it was his older sister's face in front of him. "Keep your eyes on me Fuji. Don't look at anything else.

_Nee-chan… You came to watch the game…_

Fuji couldn't help but notice the tears in her eyes. _Was it that bad?_ He focused his eyes on who was behind her to see Yuuta. The latter's eyes weren't on him though. They were locked on something to his right.

_Where his knee is. Where the pain is coming from._

Something was slowly moving his knee. Whoever was doing that was probably trying his best to be as gentle as possible but in Fuji's current state and with the pain he was feeling at that moment ,that was enough to exceed his threshold.

Fuji screamed in pain, an action that was already beyond his control. He closed his eyes, trying to block out the rest of the pain. He, then, felt the tears streaming down his cheek. _Really how bad is the injury?_

This was all too much, even for him.

**OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO**

The sound of the ambulance was what pulled Eiji Kikumaru out of his trance.

For the past hour, he had been watching the horrifying scene in front of him. Seeing Fuji his best friend get beaten in tennis is a horrifying experience on its own. Seeing him _get beaten up _in a tennis match could already be compared to a living hell.

By the third time Fuji collapsed, Eiji had had enough. At that point he was already contemplating leaving to buy himself a drink but when he saw Ryoma beside him, screaming for Fuji to stand up, he realized his best friend needed as much moral support as possible. To alleviate the pain though of seeing his friend there, he had decided to detach himself from that game, telling himself again and again that the player getting beaten up by Kirihara on the court was not Fuji Shusuke. That mini meditation _did_ work and Eiji was able to put himself in a painless yet silent trance, that is until the ambulance came and Eiji found himself trying to comprehend what has been happening the past few minutes.

He looked to his right and left to see his other teammates wearing the same faces, a mix of worry shock and helplessness. Their eyes were all watching the same thing. Eiji followed their uniform gaze and to his horror, he saw Fuji sprawled on the ground.

From his place, he could not see much. Oishi and Ryuzaki sensei were having a mini meeting with the referee and Sanada, the co-captain of RIkkaidai. He could see a part of Fuji's head from where he was standing. Fuji's arms were over his eyes as if to wipe out tears or to block out pain, kneeling down beside him were his older sister, Yumiko and his younger brother, Yuuta. He could see their lips of moving as if they were talking to Fuji, probably comforting him while a man that looked like a parademic was bent down in front of Fuji, blocking Eiji's view of the damage.

_I need to know what's happening_. The young player was about to jump over the ledge when he felt someone's hand on his. He looked back to see his teammate Inui. The latter's mouth was a grim line, his eyes hidden behind the thick lense of his glasses.

"Inui! Let me go!"

"Ryuzaki's orders. We give them space."

"I wanna know what's happening… That's my best friend there!"

Inui didn't let go of him though. Instead, he looked to his right and out of instinct, Kikumaru followed his gaze to see Oishi making his way to them.

"How is he?" Momoshiro was the first one to ask.

Oishi lowered his gaze and shook his head. "N-Not good. " The vice captain was about to continue but was suddenly interrupted by their coach who had appeared behind him.

"They're going to take him to Kanai Sougou Hospital."She explained. "We're going to proceed with the next singles match so Oishi, Ryoma you two should stay. According to Sanada, the rest of the Rikkaidai regulars will be going ahead to see their captain before his surgery so I guess it's best if the rest of you go ahead to check on Fuji too."

The regulars all nodded silently and started packing their things. On the other side, the regulars of Rikkaidai, were also clearing out their benches, ready to leave.

Other than the audience, officials and Oishi, that left Sanada and Ryoma. The two players were already starting to do some self meditation, preparing for the next match.

At that moment , Sanada was trying to block out the worry he was feeling about Yukimura's coming surgery while only a few meters away, Ryoma was trying to placate his own unease about Fuji's condition.

The break time was not enough though for both of them to clear out all thoughts unrelated to the game.

"We will now start on the Singles 1 match. The match between Seishun Gakuen's Ryoma Echizen and Rikkaidai Fuzuku's Genichiro Sanada."

Before they knew it, the referee was back on his seat and the match was about to start.

**OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO**

As soon as they find out that their brother was to be treated at Kanai general, the two siblings immediately made their own preparations as to get there as soon as possible. Yumiko was practically running to her car that was parked in the parking lot. Yuuta first said his good byes to Mizuki who was planning to watch the rest of the matches before going on ahead back to their dormitory and then, quickly followed behind his older sister.

About a half hour later, Yuuta was seated on a bench in the reception area of the emergency room while Yumiko was filling out papers.

"The doctor is attending to the patient right now in the treatment room, he'll call you in as soon as he's ready." The nurse said before going right back to typing on the computer.

"Oh, alright. Thank you…" Yumi said then turned to her younger brother. "Yuuta, you wait here in case the doctor comes already, I'll just pick up mom outside." She put her phone to her ear and ran out, leaving him alone with an equally tense nurse.

"You're Shusuke Fuji's brother?"

Yuuta looked up to see a middle aged man in a white lab coat, making his way to him. Even with the white lab coat, it took a while for him to realize that that man was a doctor since for some reason, he did not seem to have the stereotypical doctor air about him. He didn't seem to be a stern man whose nature was to give bad news or spout out medical formulas or use big words to explain diseases and injuries and for a moment he almost made Yuuta feel at home even with the edgy atmosphere of the hospital.

Yuuta nodded. "How is my brother?"

"I was hoping to start on him soon but I need to talk to an adult about it first. Is your mother here?"

"Actually, my sister's getting her right now." Yuuta answered.

As if on cue, Yumiko hurried back into the room, their mother, Yoshiko Fuji trailing right behind her. Yoshiko Fuji's face was almost a carbon copy of Yumiko's. Their faces were both lined with worry and looked like they were on the verge on tears. It didn't help at all that Yumiko took after her mother in most aspects of her appearance. The only difference was the wrinkles that were more defined in the older woman's face and her hair which she kept neatly clipped behind her head.

"How's my son?"

"Right now, he's just beyond those doors." He said, pointing to the doors leading to the treatment room. "We'll talk more there."

He led the three through a room with many beds and curtains dividing them. At first Yuuta expected his older brother to be in one of them but was surprised to see that they were led into another private room beyond that.

"Aniki…" Yuuta started. It was when he saw his brother did he realize he hasn't had a conversation with him since last week. His older brother had been in this training camp with Seigaku and the night before their game, he didn't come home because he was too busy doing his homework. He only decided to make time to watch the match because it _was_ his brother's championship game.

He looked down at his brother's leg to see that his lower half was covered by a blanket. "D-Does it hurt?" He managed to add. That's when he noticed that his brother's eyes were unfocused as if he had no idea anything was happening.

The doctor gestured at the IV attached to the patient. "We're hooking him up to some sedatives right now. It's to help him manage the pain and to prep him for surgery."

"Surgery?" Yoshiko's eyes widened in shock.

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about." He picked up some papers from his side table. "Yoshiko Fuji. Yumiko Fuji and Yuuta Fuji, am I right? My name Kenji Kitamura and I'm your son's attending physician. He was brought in for an X-ray as soon as he arrived here." He pressed a few buttons on a laptop sitting on the side table and turned it so that it was facing them. "And _this_ is Shusuke's X-ray result sent to us by the radiology department. "

Yuuta's tummy turned when he saw the picture in front of him. The two bones were practically not connected to each other anymore. The lower bone was pushed so far right that only the left corner looked like it was still connected to the upper bone. What made it worse was the right corner which looked like it was sticking out of the outline of Fuji's knee.

"Knee dislocations are very rare actually." He started, his tone serious. "That is because there are four main ligaments, arteries and nerves that connect this bone to this. With this kind of dislocation, we can assume that at least three ligaments were completely torn along with some arterial and nerve damage."

"While the operating room is being prepared, we will be taking your son in for surgery. The surgery is called an open knee reduction. We're first going to clean out the wound, take out all the bone fragments and traces of the torn ligaments and salvage what we can from the affected area. After that, we will graft any damaged arteries and set the joint back in place, then when it's done can we fully discuss his course of treatment."

Yuuta frowned. "It won't be done yet? Isn't that what a dislocation is… You set it, let it rest and you can go back to playing tennis or whatever." I had the same thing with my shoulder when I was a kid…"

"Yuuta…" Yumiko started. At first, she reprimand her brother for talking so brazenly to a doctor but when she saw his eyes, wide with disbelief and shock, she found herself silent, torn between scolding him and comforting him.

The doctor shook his head. "This is just the start actually. A knee isn't a shoulder. While a shoulder can be popped into place, a knee needs screws and grafts since there a many ligaments that need to be accounted for."

Suddenly three nurses entered the room. "The surgery room is now ready." The middle one said, she made her way to Yoshiko and bowed. "We will be taking your son to surgery now. You may come with us if you want to see the preoperation preparations."

"How long will it last?" Yoshiko asked. Her face finally calm yet still disturbed.

"It depends how bad the damage is. I've done around eight all in all. Some, we were able to finish in around an hour while the tougher ones took two. I can guarantee though that It will not take more than a few hours since we will just be salvaging the affected area." The doctor assured. "You can come with us so you can see your son off."

"Yes, I will." Yoshiko nodded then turned to her two children.

"I'm coming with you." Yumiko replied.

"Yuuta?"

Yuuta shook his head. "I'll stay in the waiting room. I don't think I have the stomach to watch any of this anymore." He turned his back, not wanting to look at the faces of his sister and mother as he exited the room. He hoped they would understand how he felt about what was happening.

_How could they though? _Even he himself, didn't understand how he really felt. First was the shock at the injury, the horror when he found out the true depth of it and regret, for not being there with his brother the night before.

_What am I saying? My brother's not dying. _He wasn't dying but last night would have been the last time he would have probably been able to talk to his brother when he's in good shape since he would probably be in pain for a long time. He recalled some of the words that caused his stomach to turn a bit harder than usual. _Salvage, screws, completely torn,This is just the start._

Yuuta may not be the one they were prepping in the pre-op room but all those thoughts were still enough to make bile rise up his throat.

He quickly made his way through the stark white hallways of the hospital to find a washroom, his hand over his mouth. Relief finally washing over him when he reached a big room that must have been a main waiting room and on the side, a huge sign showing the universal, boy and girl signs.

_There's a bathroom! _He ran into the nearest cubicle, slammed the door behind him and puked out whatever bile was pushing its way out of his body. It took only a few seconds but he was exhausted. He leaned back against the cubicle door and sighed.

_This is just the start... _He told himself again. He really needed to get used to this, especially if he wanted to be there for his big brother the whole way.

"This is just the start Yuuta." He then said aloud.

"Fuji? Yuuta Fuji?" He heard a familiar voice say from outside the cubicle.

He paused for a while, trying to associate the voice with a face to no avail.

"Are you okay in there… I'd really like to talk to you. It's about your brother." The voice added.

Yuuta bit his lip in thought. Finally giving up, he sighed.

"Please tell me who you are first."

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter, I did my research also about the treatment for dislocations. Since this a rare injury, there is no set way of treating it so I had to do some intensive research to make this as accurate as possible. If you notice any inaccuracies, feel free to message me about them. **

**I am not a doctor though nor do I have any experience in first aid. The most I've ever been was the bystander or friend so I really apologize for any inaccuracies I made or will make in the future.**

**Anyway, leave a line or two in the box below?**


	3. Admittance

It was the worst case of bad timing Tachibana had every experienced. After almost 30 minutes of waiting along the main road, they finally found the reason for the traffic jam to be two delivery trucks that bumped each other in the middle of the road. As soon as they passed the source, the taxi was able to move much more freely. By that point, Tachibana's good leg was shaking as he imagined the possible outcomes of the game. He tried to focus on imagining Fuji making an impressive comeback half way through the game and hoped against hope that what he was imagining was really what was to happen or what did happen.

He sat silently for a while, looking out the window before he started to grow impatient. _Maybe I should try calling Ann first. Just to calm my nerves. _Tachibana thought as he whipped out his cellphone.

Tachibana was about to click the dial button when the taxi driver started talking again. "Looks like there's been another accident."

Tachibana looked up to see that they had already arrived in the tennis courts where the match was held. "An accident here?" He asked, his eyes widening in horror. He looked out the window to see an ambulance parked by the entrance. From his angle, he could only see the front of the ambulance. _Is that Fuji__? There could have been another accident nearby? Or from someone else's match?_ Tachibana quickly paid the fare and stepped out of the taxi.

His mind was rambling and wandering and the only way for it to stop was to make sure that it wasn't Fuji being loaded into the ambulance. He made his way nearer for a better angle but by the time he did have the better angle, the mystery patient and stretcher were already inside the ambulance and the door was being closed in front of him. He made his way down the steps to the tennis court knowing the people and the scene in front of him could tell him who really was being loaded into the ambulance.

"Nii-chan!"

"Tachibana-san!"

Tachibana looked to his side to see Kamio and Ann running over, looking frantic.

"I saw the ambulance and…" Tachibana started, hoping that his sister and his teammates would look confused, ask him why he was so worried or announce that Fuji won 6-0 or something.

"It was…" Ann looked down, looking as if she were trying to find the right words to say.

Tachibana was watching, waiting for her to suddenly start laughing or get excited and tell him about how good the match was. She paused for a while though, looking like she was at a loss for words. The young captain though didn't have to wait for her to confirm his fears because the next thing he saw was two people running past them, looking like they were bound for the parking lot. They looked like they were in a hurry, their eyes wide with panic. Tachibana recognized the boy as Fuji's younger brother Yuuta and guessed that woman beside him was probably their sister. There was only reason why they would hurry to the parking lot.

"That was Fuji…" Tachibana muttered to himself. "What happened?" He asked, making his voice loud enough for Ann and his teammates to hear.

"His knee…" Ann started.

"I know it was his knee but what happened? Why was there an ambulance?" The captain of Fudomine continued to press.

"Let's walk back to the courts Tachibana-san. We'll tell you on the way." Kamio said.

The story became more and more unbelievable as Kamio narrated it while Ann gave inputs where she felt was most appropriate.

"They couldn't move Fuji until the ambulance arrived." Kamio said as he pointed at the courts.

From the wired fence, Tachibana took in the scene in front of him. The first thing he noticed was that the members of Rikkaidai and Seigaku were packing up. Ryuuzaki, the coach of Seigaku and Sanada were both talking to the referee. No one was wearing medals yet.

"There's still one more match." Kamio explained. "Rikkaidai won the first two doubles matches while Seigaku won the two singles matches that followed."

Tachibana nodded, as if to say he was starting to understand the situation. He saw one staff member enter the court with a mop and that was when Tachibana noticed the patch of blood to the side of the court. "That's Fuji's blood?"

Kamio lowered his eyes to the ground and nodded.

"Thank you Kamio. It must have been a horrible scene to watch." Tachibana said as he watched the members of Rikkaidai save for Sanada climb up the bleachers and out of the court. He was sure the Rikkaidai players were going to Kanai Sogo to visit their captain who was to have surgery soon.

As they entered the courts once again, Tachibana could only watch as the Seigaku regulars briskly walked passed them. He was about to give them an encouraging remark or ask them how they were doing but when he looked at their faces, he started to realize that it wasn't a good idea. The five members in front of him looked too deep in thought to bother with him. Even their usually open and loud Kikumaru looked unfocused, his eyes downcast and as if he were in a trance.

Just as he expected, the members didn't even stop to acknowledge him with a slight nod or a forced smile. He didn't mind though because in the end, he understood He turned to Kamio and Ann, " let's get a taxi back to the hospital." He had to see Fuji too. "Kamio, do you know which hospital they're taking Fuji to?"

"Shinji, Tetsu and Sakurai are still inside." Kamio answered, pointing to his three teammates standing on the bleachers. "We could ask."

"Hey!" Kamio called out. The faces of the three members lit up when they saw their captain and hurried over to him.

"Captain!" Tetsu said, looking as if he wanted to hug his senior.

The latter was all business though. "You know which hospital they're taking Fuji to?"

"We could ask Oishi or their coach? " Sakurai suggested as he pointed at them convening by the side of the court.

"Actually I overheard them." Shinji answered. "They said they'd be taking him to Kanai Sogo."

"Kanai Sogo? The hospital I ust came from?" Tachibana asked. "Are you sure? I'll be going back there to check on Fuji."

Shinji nodded.

"We'll come with you." Tetsu said.

The captain shook his head. "You four update me on the match. Ann and I are going straight home after we see him."

The four nodded hesitantly knowing they didn't want to separate from their captain right after seeing him. They couldn't argue though, Tachibana's orders were absolute and since when has he ever made a decision detrimental to Fudomine?

**BREAK FROM UNGENUITY **

"I didn't expect to be back here an hour after I left." Tachibana said as he made his way through the entrance hall of the hospital. They had taken a taxi back there with Tachibana practically pressuring the driver to break speed limits with every empty road. They had arrived in the hospital in roughly ten minutes, or ten minutes later than what Tachibana would have wanted.

"Where do you think Fuji would be?" Ann asked as she followed behind her brother.

"In the emergency room, most probably.." Tachibana answered, looking somewhat uncertain. His wandering eyes were able to catch a familiar figure rushing through the hallway. "I'll meet you two there." He added.

"Wait, where are you going?"Ann asked.

"Toilet." Tachibana answered as he went ahead, his back to his sister.

It was Yuuta, Fuji's younger brother. Before Tachibana could get a closer look, the younger boy had already disappeared behind the closed door of the comfort room.

_Is he okay? _Tachibana thought as he followed him inside.

He didn't have to guess which cubicle the young teen had hid himself in, the retching noises were a dead giveaway. It went on for a few more seconds before it was replaced by a voice saying "This is just the start, Yuuta."

"Fuji. Yuuta Fuji?" Tachibana repeated.

There was no reply.

"I'd really like to talk to you." He continued as he got his crutches and maneuvered himself much closer to the cubicle door. "About your brother."

"Please tell me who you are first."

"My name is Tachibana, from Fudomine and I was Kirihara's opponent before your brother."

Yuuta was silent for a while but Tachibana could tell he had aroused his interest.

"Okay, I'm going out."

**A BREAK FROM UNGENUITY**

Yuuta knew his fair share about Tachibana. He knew he was the captain of Fudomine, the underdogs who were able to make it to nationals in their first year. He also knew that Fudomine went against Rikkaidai during the semis it was only a few seconds ago did he learn that _he_ was the one who went against Kirihara before his brother.

"Your ankle…You got that from your match against Kirihara?" Yuuta asked, in attempt to start up the conversation.

Tachibana closed his eyes, as he recalled the impact of the tennis ball on his ankle and the sharp pain that followed. "Yeah. I can't say though it was like what happened to your brother. From what I hear, your brother has it much worse."

Yuuta shook his head. "We don't know yet. There was blood but it could have easily been a flesh wound. I'd rather wait for the doctor's diagnosis before I say whether it's bad or not." He said as he shrugged his shoulders, trying his best to look nonchalant and casual.

Tachibana lowered his eyes to the ground. "How is your brother though? You think we'd be able to see him soon?"

"Yuuta, here you are!" He heard the clack of heels suddenly get closer and closer. Tachibana looked up instinctively to see who he guessed earlier to be Fuji's sister.

"Nee-san!"

"Shuusuke's in surgery right now… They said it'll take one to two hours…" She said.

_Surgery? _For some reason, he was surprised. _What did you expect? It's a knee injury, they can't just patch it up just like that. _He scolded himself.

"And who's this?"

Tachibana forced his thoughts back to reality. "My name is Kippei Tachibana. Nice to meet you."

"No no. The pleasure is mine." She replied, bowing. "My name is Yumiko, I'm Shuusuke's older sister. You're probably here for him right?"

"Yeah, I wanted to talk to him actually but from what you said just a while ago, he's in surgery. I'll go back another time, I'm sorry for bothering you." Tachibana fixed his crutches unto his sides and was about to stand up.

"Wait, I'm sorry. Can I ask you something? If it's not too personal." Yumiko started.

"I could try to answer." Tachibana smiled, hoping that could help relax her.

"Your injury… Was that from a match against Shuusuke's opponent?"

_How did you know?_ "Yes it was. I was in the team that went against them during the semifinals." Tachibana added.

Yumiko put her hand to her mouth. "I'm sorry if the question was too sudden. During the match, Shuusuke's stare was murderous as he played against his opponent. It looked like he was trying to avenge someone. Trying to avenge you maybe?"

"Maybe." Was all Tachibana could say. _And now I feel like this is somewhat my fault. _He considered adding to it but at the same time, he had no idea how to phrase that properly in front of the Fuji siblings

Yumiko shook her head as if she sensed the discomfort in his voice. "Nothing would have stopped him from giving that match his all. Try not to blame yourself for it. "

"Even then, I still believe that it's my responsibility to apologize to Fuji. Since this is probably not a good time though, I'll take my leave. I'm sorry for all the trouble I've caused." Tachibana knew that as he apologized, he wasn't just talking about that moment. He was sorry for pressuring Fuji to win the match, for causing the injury. More importantly, he was sorry for all the trouble the injuries will be causing them in the future.

With that, he stood up once again and left, keeping his eyes trained on the floor.

**A BREAK FROM UNGENUITY**

"Oh, Yuuta. I wanted to ask…" Yumiko started as soon as Tachibana was out of sight."Since it's summer vacation, do you plan on staying over here with your brother? Mom and I are planning to. The next few weeks will probably be hard for him and it would help a lot if his younger brother is there too."

"Of course I will." Yuuta said instinctively. "That is- if you need me too."

Yumiko put her hand to her mouth and chuckled. "You don't have to correct yourself, we are completely aware of the fact that you love your older brother." She watched as her little brother turned a deep shade of red. "Come on. Let's pack up some things from the dorm and before that, I have to get my stuff from the house too."

**A BREAK FROM UNGENUITY**

Yumiko told him to take his time but Yuuta was doing anything but that. It had taken almost thirty minutes to get from Kanai Sogo to St. Rudolph seeing as they were in completely different districts in completely different sides of Tokyo and that it was rush hour. By the time they would get back to the hospital, his older brother might already be in the recovery room or in a hospital room.

He entered his dorm room, brought out his duffel bag from his closet, stuffing it with clothes he was surely going to wear around the house and in the hospital, leaving his work out clothes inside his closet.

"Where are you going with all those clothes?"

Yuuta almost jumped in surprise. He looked up to Mizuki leaning against the door frame. "Aren't you supposed to be watching the game?" He asked.

"I knew you weren't staying here for summer vacation. Call it manager's instinct." He said raising one brow accusingly at Yuuta.

"I'll still be going to practice." Yuuta said "It's just that… it's summer, I wanna stay with my family first."

He had expected Mizuki to react violently. To his surprise though, the latter simply nodded and said "tell your brother to get well soon."

_Even slave drivers had standards. _He thought to himself as he packed up the rest of his belongings and hurried back to his sister's car. He only realized when he was already in the car that he had completely forgot to say good bye to the whole team or even tell them that he'd be leaving.

His sister was already maneuvering the car onto the main road.

"Could we go back…" He started but stopped himself when he noticed the phone pressed to her ear.

"Yes, this is Yumiko. Shuusuke's sister. Congratulations on the win! My brother would be really happy to hear that."  
Yuuta's heart pounded as he listened to their conversation. There is only one kind of win that could fit in that conversation. _Seigaku won the championship. Seigaku won the championship. _

"Nee-san! What's happening?"

She put her hand in front of Yuuta as if telling him to wait a while. "Actually, we're on our way back to the hospital. If you want to know about my brother's condition, I don't think the phone is the best time. We'll meet you at the waiting room nearest to the entrance…. We don't know yet… Let's wait for what the doctor will say. Okay, we'll meet you there. Good bye."

"What did they say?" Yuuta asked, "Seigaku won?"

Yumiko nodded. "That was one of Shuusuke's teammates Inui. I agreed to meet them in the hospital as soon as we arrive." She sighed and narrowed her eyes to Yuuta. "Apparently, Shuusuke played well. They told me that if Shuusuke decided to give up after he got injured, they wouldn't have won." She explained, her eyes fixed on the road. "I don't even know what to think anymore."

"He was singles 2, nee-san. Before that, They lost both doubles matches and by the time singles came around, they knew they couldn't lose anymore. It was a huge pressure for Aniki."

"I understand tennis and our brother enough to understand the pressure… It's just that,, I don't think the tradeoff was worth it." She quickly scrolled through her phone and handed it to her younger brother. "Read this."

"Knee Dislocation." Yuuta read aloud as he scanned the article. "What is this?"

"I was reading this while waiting for you. No need to look at the stats. Look at the prognosis"

Yuuta's eyes skipped through the statistics, a bunch of numbers he couldn't nor did he want to make sense of. What caught his eye were the last few words in the bottom. _Complications frequent and rarely does knee return to pre injury state. _Saying out loud the last sentence, he looked up to his sister. "What are you trying to say?"

"The championship was a great achievement and I know it means a lot to a lot of people…" Yumiko started as she gave her younger brother a sympathetic look. "I just don't think it brings justice to a career ending injury."

**A BREAK FROM UNGENUITY**

The Seigaku regulars had been sitting around the waiting room for about an hour when Oishi, Ryoma and Coach Ryuzaki entered, bearing the good news and the medals to boot. To everyone's surprise, none of them were ecstatic about the win, instead the room was filled with sighs of relief and the scratching of Inui's pen on the notebook. The championship did not feel any more like the goal they had been working for for three years. It felt like one problem was finally over and they could start working on another one.

"How's Fuji?" Oishi asked as he looked at his teammates one by one. All of them shook their head as their vice-captain made eye contact with them.

"We've been here for an hour already. Maybe they went home without us?" Eiji suggested as he leaned back on his seat. "We could text him" He brought his phone, about to dial his teammate's number.

"The probability of Fuji answering: 10 percent. If we want to get reliable information, we should call his sister. Now, we have his medal and good news so it's a good reason to call." Inui pulled out his phone from his pocket.

"You have her number?" Oishi asked, looking mostly surprised and a bit horrified. "Why?"

"I prefer to keep a few extra numbers in my phone for emergencies." He explained nonchalantly as he pressed a few buttons on his phone.

No one could argue as he said that since everyone agreed that Fuji ending up in the emergency room was emergency enough to breach her privacy.

The call was short. The regulars could only listen as Inui told her the good news about their win and asked about Fuji. In the end, they weren't able to find out anything about their teammate.

"They'll explain it to us as soon as they arrive in the hospital. All we can do is wait now." Inui said as he put his phone back in his pocket and rested his chin on his hand.

Oishi, Ryoma and Coach Ryuzaki, settled on vacant chairs near the other regulars and sat in uncomfortable silence for what they thought would be for an hour or two.

Half an hour later, a familiar face entered the waiting room, looking like she was going to buy coffee in the nearby vending machine.

"Obasan!" Eiji stood up in surprise.

"Eiji! Oh! This is Shuusuke's tennis team! I'm so sorry I didn't notice you. I was a little out of it." She said as she knocked at her head.

"It's been a while Obasan." Oishi said bowing to the woman in front of him. He turned to his teammates. "This is Yoshiko Fuji, Fuji's mom."

"Nice to meet you." Each of the regulars said one by one, bowing to the elder woman.

Coach Ryuzaki went up to her and held out her hand in greeting. "We won the championships and it would not have been possible without your son.

Yoshiko returned the handshake. "I heard about what happened from Yumiko. The game was a hard fought one."

There was a moment of silence as the regulars looked expectantly at their vice captain and the latter immediately understood what they wanted him to do.

"Um…" Oishi put his hand to the back of his head. "We have your son's medal here and we're really hoping we could see him…. So we could give it to him. You think it would be possible anytime soon?"

Yoshiko pursed her lips. "I'm sure Shuusuke would love to see you guys. He's in surgery now though and I'm not sure when they'll finish. They said it won't take too long though since they're just cleaning out the wound and setting his knee today."

"How bad was the injury?" Oishi started.

Yoshiko lowered her eyes to the ground and shook her head. "Let's wait for my daughter. We could talk about it over dinner."

**A BREAK FROM UNGENUITY**

Seigaku ended up having their championship celebratory dinner in a hospital café, missing one of their teammates, sponsored by the mother of the missing teammate and joined by said teammate's family, a far cry from the Kawamura Sushi party they were expecting and dreaming about for weeks.

"Order anything you want. This probably isn't the Kawamura sushi celebratory dinner you were expecting but it's much better than sitting in the waiting room with empty stomachs." Yoshiko said, opening her own menu.

"You knew that we were planning on eating in Kawamura sushi?" Momoshiro asked.

"Shuusuke tells me the team celebrates there after every competition." Yoshiko explains as she scanned through the menu. "He said your wasabi sushi is delicious." She added turning to Kawamura.

"He's the only one who enjoys it though," Kawamura said, blushing.

"Shuusuke always had a weird taste in food. He used to eat wasabi out of the tube, that is until his father banned him. He was scared Shuusuke might get sick."

"Your husband works in America right?" Inui asked, adjusting his glasses.

"Yes, I run the house on my own, taking care of the three kids." She said. "Before we continue talking, you all should order first! You must be very hungry from the game."

"Yes mam!" Oishi answered instinctively opening up his menu. The other regulars followed and a few minutes later, they had given their orders and were sitting silently as if they were waiting for someone to start talking.

"Obasan. How is the injury?" It was Eiji who broke the silence. He looked like he was trying to hide the impatience in his voice but those who knew him were quick to spot it. None of them could blame him though, out of all of them, he was the closest to Fuji since they were both classmates and teammates.

"I'm sure he won't be able to make it to the invitational camp." Yoshiko said giving them an apologetic look.

"Nationals?" Oishi asked hopefully.

The doctor told her that her son would be in crutches for months. Rehabilitation would take years . When she saw their hopeful eyes though, she couldn't bring herself to repeat the doctor's words. Yoshiko shook her head apologetically. "I know the injury is bad and the doctor said that it is also very unpredictable so there is still a chance he might make it by then." From her peripherals, she could see her daughter's glare. The latter was all for telling Seigaku the truth yet at the same time, she knew she couldn't go against her mother.

"Chance that he won't make it by Nationals: 90 percent"

"Inui…" OIshi started.

"A knee dislocation is an injury which forces misalignment between your thigh bone and shin bone. An open dislocation is when the broken bone tears through the skin. If I'm correct, that means surgery, recovery then months of rehabilitation."

Eiji's eyes widened as he looked back and forth between Yoshiko and Oishi. "Don't you think we should wait for the doctor to say something. We can't assume. Ne Obaasan?"

Yoshiko couldn't return the hopeful glance the young man was giving her. She lowered her head instead fixing her eyes on the ground as she thought about what to say. Inui's guess was right and the right thing to do would be to just confirm what he said. At the same time, she didn't want to be the one who had to break it to them. She shook her head. It was an ambiguous move with so many different implications that it was difficult to read. _Was she disagreeing with Inui or Eiji?_

She promised herself she would tell them eventually. _Just not when it's this fresh. _She told herself.

"What do you think?" She asked as she turned expectantly to her daughter.

"It's not what I think or you think or what anyone thinks anymore." Yumiko muttered as she furiously fiddled with the buttons her phone. She continued tapping for a few more seconds before she slid her phone to the middle of the table. "Here! Clear as day. His x-ray sent by the radiology department. His knee is completely dislocated so the invitational camp is completely out of the question. Trainings, competitions, nationals. No one can play with an injury like that.

"They can set it though… I had the same injury back in first year. I was able to train again after a week or so…" Kawamura started, looking unsure of his contribution.

"This is completely different. He tore three ligaments, nerve damage, artery damage. Mom, why were you even trying to hide this from them?" Yumiko asked. She put her hand to her mouth as soon as she realized that she had just raised her voice to her own mother.

Yoshiko bit her lip. "What my daughter said is true." She focused her eyes on the table, not wanting to make any more eye contact with her son's teammates.

"I was wondering how long you were going to sugarcoat this Fuji-san." Yoshiko recognized that voice to be Ryuuzaki, her son's coach. "I've been a coach long enough to know how devastating knee injuries can be. One torn ligament alone can already be career ending so as soon as I saw the extent of your son's injury, I knew it was over."

**A BREAK FROM UNGENUITY**

Oishi leaned on the wall by the side of the entrance and sighed. The Fuji family had just left to check on Shuusuke who had just come out of surgery. Oishi watched them leave and excused himself as soon as they were out of sight.

He didn't have to explain himself. His teammates knew exactly what he was going to do as soon as he stood up. He needed to gather himself as he scrolled through his numbers. He did one deep breath as he scrolled through each page of his contacts. He watched as the names went by, searching for the familiar "Tezuka Kunimitsu."

He took one last deep breath and clicked dial.

"Oishi." Tezuka answered even before the second ring. "How were the finals?"

"We won." Oishi started, keeping his voice slow and steady. He could hear the sigh of relief and could almost imagine the smile on his captain's face.

"Thank you for telling me this Oishi. I've been waiting for your call for hours."

_How do I start this? _Oishi thought as he felt something catch in his throat. How does he tell Tezuka that they'll be going to Nationals without Fuji? "Sorry it's been a busy day…" He started. "We're in the hospital actually."

"What happened?" Tezuka asked.

That was all Oishi needed. After that, the words which were, only a second ago caught in his throat started to flow like water after a dam just opens up.

**Please leave a review to tell me how it is! And if you find any typos or discontinuity. A long and slow chapter. I'm hoping the story flows much more easily in the succeeding chapters. **


	4. Painkillers

**This lack of updates was my fault. My friend just finished her epic length fanfic and in the process inspiring me to finish all my fics, good to luck to me. Hopefully I finish this, Hope you enjoy this chapter.**

As soon as the Fuji family left to check on their son , the whole team suddenly relaxed and their focuses were then turned to uncharacteristically untouched food on their plates. Ryuzaki had to note that for a group of tired, athletic and growing boys, they were eating too slowly.

"Not eating is not going to help him. Finish your food."

They may have sped up, they may have not. Ryuzaki could not tell but still, she waited patiently for them to finish. The invitational camp was starting on Monday and she knew she had to clear the issue on the team's future and Fuji's slot as soon as possible. She was sure if she brought it up before they ate or while they were eating, they would stop and argue, leaving wasted food and more importantly, leaving her with a hungry and frustrated team.

_Let them eat first. _She thought. She, then felt a vibration on her hand. She looked down to see a new message from Yoshiko Fuji.

_Just an Update. Shuusuke's in the Intensive Care Unit but they've allowed visitors, three at a time at the most starting tomorrow. This is in case any of his teammates want to see him before the invitationals. _

She looked up to see that most of the players were already in their last few bites. "Just an update. Shuusuke's in the Intensive Care Unit but they've allowed visitors, three at a time at the most starting tomorrow. This is in case any of his teammates want to see him before the invitationals."

Just as she expected, everyone dropped their utensils and stared.

"Intensive care unit?" Momoshiro repeated.

"It's a place where people go when they're really sick, stupid." Kaido answered, his voice laced with venom as usual.

"I know that but Fuji-senpai is not _really sick _right? It's a knee injury." Momoshiro replied, surprisingly, he didn't argue with Kaido anymore. Instead, his attention was all on their coach.

"The doctors most probably have their reasons for this. Treating a knee dislocation is not as easy as treating other injuries. They have to think about his arteries, nerves and ligaments… People have lost their legs from misdiagnosed dislocations."

"Why do you know so much about this?" Kawamura asked.

"Like I said before. I've been a coach long enough, long enough to see rising stars end their careers through knee injuries." She looked up at all the players one by one and sighed. "And since we're in this topic, there's something I want to talk to all of you about. This may seem too abrupt but with invitationals on Monday, I won't have a chance to talk to all of you as a team for a while and I don't want any of you having false hope." She stopped and took a deep breath.

"Wait…" Eiji started. "What about OIshi?"

"He already knows what I'm going to say. I told him to inform Tezuka about this." She felt her quiver in her lip. _Would she be able to say this with a straight face? _She had to at least try. With that, she narrowed her eyes. "We will have to hold ranking matches again as soon as the invitational camp is over. Someone's going to have to take his spot as a regular."

**A BREAK FROM UNGENUITY**

Fuji's hospital room was just one of the many rooms in a hallway in the third floor. Not too disturbing, or worrying, that was until Yumiko noticed the influx of nurses, in and out of hospital rooms, looking much more stressed than usual. She didn't have to wonder why because only a few seconds later, a nurse entered his room explaining that they were in the Intensive Care Unit- the ward people go to when they need careful monitoring or when they are seriously ill.

"Kitamura-sensei will be here in a while to explain your son's condition. Your son's not critically ill but the condition of his knee needs monitoring that's why we're keeping him here." She explained reassuringly as she started to fiddle with the drip on Fuji's left arm.

There were two bags connected to his arm, both of colorless liquid. The nurse turned back to the family, pointing to the bag nearer to Fuji's bedside. "We're putting him through a light round of antibiotics to prevent infection. This one here is his first round. The one to the right is his morphine drip. He's waking up soon, so I have to make sure he'll be able to manage the pain." She then tapped the shoulder of the sleeping teen. As if on cue, Shuusuke started to fidget in the bed.

Yumiko's heart skipped a beat as she saw the signs of her brother finally waking up from surgery. She felt a surge of warmth come through her as she watched Shuusuke fidget some more, her eyes focused on his.

They slowly opened but to her disappointment, they were still as unfocused as they were before the surgery.

"Fuji-san, it's your mother." The nurse said softly as she patted the head of the young teen on the bed. She then pressed a few buttons on the side of the bed. The bed started to move on its own, helping the young patient into a more convenient position, the angle of the bed still wide enough for Fuji to comfortably sleep but also inclined enough for him to be able to easily sit up.

"Okaa-san." Fuji muttered softly as he looked up to his mother. His eyes then scanned the whole room, widening with a hint of recognition as he saw his sister and brother. "How was Echizen's match against Sanada?"

_Are you serious? _Yumiko thought to herself, trying to hide the hint of annoyance in her face. _My brother's injured, most probably for life, and this is the first thing he asks about?_ "Think about yourself first Shuusuke. You shouldn't have continued that match."

"Nee-san…" Fuji started.

"They're champions, Shuusuke… " Yoshiko answered, interrupting her son's attempt to speak, pressing the medal to his hand.

Yumiko noticed the relief in his face, as her mom answered him. _Did that championship really mean that much to him?_ She watched silently as Yoshiko whispered things into his ear and as Fuji's face then darkened. She knew exactly what her mother just told him.

"The doctor will come in soon to explain your injury. " Yumiko added. She quietly observed her brother from afar. Her brother and mother were already by his bedside, her mother continued to pat his head comfortingly, her other hand on top of his own. Her brother on the other hand, just sat awkwardly on the side of his bed, looking like he was torn between caring and looking cool. She knew Yuuta always cared about his older brother. He was just still too immature to express it during hard times. Acknowledging the unease in her younger brother's eyes, she knew she had to find a reason to get him out of the small hospital room.

"I'm going to get a drink mom." She said, then making eye contact with Yuuta. "You want to come with me?"

"Yeah, I'm actually pretty thirsty…" He made his way to his sister's side.

Yumiko was about to open the door, her hand already on the knob when it started to move on its own. Someone was coming inside. She instinctively stepped back and watched as the door slowly opened.

"Room 307. Fuji Shuusuke. Correct me if I'm wrong?"

"Kitamura-san" Yoshiko bowed her head politely at the doctor, not leaving her place by her son's bed. "Shuusuke, this is your doctor."

Shuusuke put his hand to his side and tried to push himself up. Yumiko hurried to the side of the bed and gently pushed her brother back down. "No need, you just had surgery."

"I'm sorry, nee-san." Shuusuke said as he looked up at his sister, his face a mixture of guilt and shame.

Yumiko felt the frustration and anger from a while ago disappear as she continued to look at her brother. She was about to answer with a "sorry about what?" when her mother called her name and gestured for them to listen to the doctor.

The doctor put his hand to his mouth and cleared his throat. "You probably noticed by now that your son is in the intensive care unit. The good news is, his condition is not life threatening. The bad news is, the reason we're keeping him here is because his present course of treatment is a very delicate process we call a 'limb salvage.' We make one mistake with this and we might end up having to cut off his leg. This is the best way to make sure someone monitors his knee regularly."

"So how long will he be here?"

"We'll have him here for a week at the least. Our goal right now, is to get him to outpatient status."

"So you still don't know when he can go back home."

The doctor shook his head.

"It's summer vacation now, so it's not a problem… But how long do you think he'll have to stay here. He'll have to get back to school in a week or so."

"I don't know. The truth is, during surgery, the only thing we were able to do was set the bones . clean out the wounds and temporarily graft some of the more obvious arterial injuries. We still have to consider his nerves, meniscal tears, his other ligaments to get his knee fully functional again and it is a very long process. Our first goal as of now is to fully diagnose your son's knee injury which we will be focusing on tomorrow."

"What's going to happen?" Yoshiko asked.

"I booked him for an MRI tomorrow at 9am, through there we will figure out what arteries nerves and ligaments were torn. They will send me the results soon after. After that we may have to schedule an other diagnostic methods like an EMG, arteriography or CT scan right after depending on the results of the MRI. From there, we can plan a much clearer course of treatment." The doctor nodded to the nurse and the family of four and exited the room.

Yumiko couldn't help but turn to her brother soon after the doctor left. His face was as unreadable as ever. His eyes closed, his mouth a grim line. If all she could see was his face and had no idea what was happening, she probably would have considered his face almost normal, almost routine. She decided to look elsewhere , for signs of how her brother was really feeling. Looking down, she started to see his right hand shaking and hovering over his left as if he was going to pull out the IV.

"Fuji-san, please don't touch the IV." The nurse said, grabbing the young boy's hand and pressing it back down on the bed. "I have to check the other patients, you need any pain killers? Is your leg bothering you? " She asked. The questions were routine but the nurse looked like she really did care about the young teen.

"I don't need it."

"Alright, just call me if you need anything Fuji-san, I'll be checking on the other patients." With that, the nurse left the room.

The whole time, Yumiko had her eyes fixed on her brother's right hand, resting on his lap. She couldn't help but watch as the hand slowly yet shakily moved back to the tubes connected to his left arm.

"Shuusuke…" Yoshiko squeezed her son's hand. "You must be thirsty, we'll have your siblings get you some water." She then turned to Yumiko and nodded, her eyes narrowing as if she did. It looked as she was sending her daughter a secret message and it didn't take too long for Yumiko to figure it out.

"Come on Yuuta" Yumiko said as she grabbed her brother's shoulder and dragged him out of the room with her.

"What do you want?" Yumiko asked, as the two siblings made their way to the vending machine.

"Ermm. Just water." Yuuta muttered, his eyes downcast the whole walk.

Yumiko rummaged through her pocket for some lose change, finding a 500 yen coin, she pressed it on her younger brother's hand. "Just get four bottles of water. I have to get some things from the nurse."

The young woman made her way to the end of the hall where the nurse of a while ago was bent down, looking like she was fixing some things in the medicine cart.

"Is this about your younger brother?" The nurse asked, as she stood back up.

"So I won't have to call you later, I'll get some his painkillers now." Yumiko started.

"Yes, you should. A knee injury is in general, an unbearably painful injury, I honestly don't think his morphine will suffice." She opened a few drawers before handing a yellow medicine bottle to Yumiko.

"Just give him three when you get back to the room. It can help him sleep tonight if he's having trouble too." The nurse advised. She bent down once again, her focus completely shifting from the young woman in front of her. "Sorry, I have to finish fixing the cart now so I can start on the next round."

Yumiko nodded in thanks instinctively before making her way back to the vending machine where her youngest brother stood with two bottles of water on each hand.

"Is that for Aniki?" Yuuta asked, looking pointedly at the yellow bottle.

Yumiko nodded. "As soon as the anesthesia completely wears off, he's going to need it." She spun the medicine bottle a few times in her hand before placing it in her skirt pocket.

She thought back to a while ago when her brother had shot down the offer of the nurse, saying he didn't need the painkillers. She remembered the sharp indignation in his voice and the tone to it, implying that offering him those painkillers was merely a waste of time in the scheme of things. Her brother probably wouldn't comply to easily too even if_ she_ was the one to order him to take the medicine.

Walking back to her brother's room, she thought of ways to convince her younger brother to down the pills. She found herself looking back to those times as children when was able to bully her two younger brother's into helping her bake a cake or help her fix her doll. Fuji was never really bullied in any of those situation, he was just generally nice enough to comply to his sister or brother's every whim.

_Would he be nice enough to take the medicine if I ask him?_ Yumiko thought wryly to herself as she walked through the hospital corridors, feeling the extra weight of the medicine bottle in her pocket and hearing the slam of the many pills as they hit the sides of the bottle.

She shrugged and kept walking. _She'll find a way to make him drink it. She had to._

**A BREAK FROM UNGENUITY**

The rehabilitation was almost over so with a quick promise to do the exercises vigilantly when he gets home, Tezuka was given permission to return to Japan.

It was three in the afternoon and Tezuka was going through flights. He sorted through the flights that were to depart that night. If he could get a flight at nine or ten that night, he'd have enough time to pack his things, get to the airport and check in.

He'd arrive in Japan on a Sunday morning. The camp starts on Monday, that means enough time to meet with his family, meet with his teammates and probably meet with Fuji. With that, Tezuka clicked on the earliest flight he could find.

_Seigaku, I'm almost home._

_**I was half asleep as I revised this. Please message me if there are any writing bloopers and do leave a review telling me what you think. Good morning or Good evening, (depending on what your time zone is)**_


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